Imperial Guard

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Imperial Guard
Alias(es)	Brocade Guard (錦衣衛)
Affiliation	Great Xuan Imperial Court; ultimately answers to the Emperor 1
Occupation/Role	Emperor’s personal army; monitors the realm, handles major cases, investigates martial-world crimes, and apprehends criminals 1 8
Status	Active 47
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Background / History

The Imperial Guard is the Great Xuan Imperial Court’s feared investigative and military institution. Its commanders may directly meet the Emperor when difficult decisions arise, making them imperial confidants. Its work brings it into conflict with sects, aristocratic families, guilds, powerful clans, and martial criminals across the realm 1.

Though its officers can profit from confiscated assets, the work is dangerous: the Guard regularly faces martial artists and criminals who oppose the court. Under its confiscation rules, eighty percent of seized property goes to the treasury while officers may retain the remaining twenty percent 1 16.

The Qingzhou Prefecture Thousand Households Office is one of the Guard’s operating bases. It investigates local crises that ordinary authorities cannot resolve, including the missing-child case, the Golden Saber Society’s pill-refining operation, the Qingzhou Army arms leak, and White Lotus Sect infiltration 7 11 21 39.

Organization

Unit / Position	Documented details
Emperor	Ultimate authority over the Imperial Guard; missing a recruitment assessment is treated as offending the Emperor 1
Imperial Guard Commander	Can directly meet the Emperor and serves as an imperial confidant 1
Southern Commander’s Office	Imperial City office led by Commander Lei Chongxiao; oversees reports from Qingzhou and later promotes Su Fei to the Southern Commandery Investigation Department 30 46
Thousand Households Office	Qingzhou headquarters, located on Qingzhou Prefecture’s central street; maintains training grounds, an armory, barracks, records, and operational forces 2 7 31
Vice Thousand Households Commander	Senior post within the Southern Commandery Investigation Department 46 47
Hundred Households Officer	Commands more than one hundred Imperial Guard Strongmen; receives fifty taels monthly, before additional title-based subsidies 31
General Banner Officer	Commands fifty Strongmen; receives twenty taels monthly 15 21
Squad Leader	Lowest documented official rank; a seventh-rank military official commanding ten Strongmen and receiving ten taels monthly 2 7
Strongman	Lowest Imperial Guard rank, not officially graded; receives three taels monthly and commonly trains in the Body Tempering Realm 2 3

Training and Recruitment

Applicants to the Qingzhou Imperial Guard undergo a recruitment assessment that includes a strength test, background check, and practical combat round 4.

Strongmen train through physically demanding methods such as carrying mulberry wood, striking wooden dummies, and pulling stone rollers with ropes. Advancement depends heavily on martial cultivation and earned merit 3.

• Candidates for the Strongman assessment are generally expected to possess at least the fifth or sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm 3.
• The strength trial uses stone locks ranging from 500 to 1,000 jin 4.
• A True Qi Realm candidate is considered highly likely to pass and has better prospects for earning merit and promotion 3.
• The Guard values ability over ceremony; officers are judged by their martial capability, merit, and capacity to control situations 6 7.

Authority and Methods

The Imperial Guard can conduct investigations independently of local authorities. During the Golden Saber Society operation, Captain Li states that the Guard does not require a warrant to conduct its business 12.

• Investigates crimes that threaten public order or involve martial artists, including kidnappings, illegal pill refinement, arms smuggling, treason, and sect activity 8 11 21 44.
• May search military installations with an approved Imperial Guard warrant, as Captain Li does in the Qingzhou Army arms investigation 21.
• Uses the Heavenly Prison to detain and interrogate traitors such as Zhao Feiying 28 29.
• Publicly exposes major criminals and presents evidence to secure public trust, as seen after Wan Mengchang’s arrest 13.
• Applies confiscation rules to assets seized during investigations 16.

Uniform and Equipment

• Flying Fish Robe — Formal Imperial Guard robe bearing embroidered Flying Fish patterns; higher-ranking versions use more elaborate gold-thread embroidery 7 15.
• Spring Embroidered Saber — Standard saber carried by Imperial Guard personnel; approximately three feet long in the documented Qingzhou issue 2 7.
• Jade belt — Issued with the Flying Fish Robe 7.
• Imperial Guard signal arrow — Specially made arrow fired to summon nearby Guard forces 36.
• Battering rams — Used by Strongmen to force entry into the Golden Saber Society compound 12.

Major Operations

Missing Children Case

The Qingzhou Thousand Households Office takes over after seven children disappear in western Qingzhou Prefecture City and the local yamen fails to find leads. Squad Leader Su Fei traces the case to the Golden Saber Society, which abducted children to refine Qi and Blood Pills 7 8 10.

Captain Li Chengfeng mobilizes more than two hundred Strongmen, over twenty Squad Leaders, and five Chief Squad Leaders to raid the society’s headquarters. The Guard captures Wan Mengchang and secures rescued children and alchemy-furnace residue as evidence 11 13.

Qingzhou Army Arms Case

After the Chen family is linked to illegally obtained Gale Crossbows, the Guard investigates the Qingzhou Army for the source of the military-supply leak. Captain Li leads an Imperial Guard contingent into the army encampment under a search warrant approved by Commander Feng 20 21.

The operation exposes Deputy Commander Zhao Feiying as a White Lotus Sect collaborator. The Guard captures him and transfers him to the Heavenly Prison, while its intervention also saves Commander Long Teng from poisoning 27 28 29.

White Lotus Sect Stronghold Raid

Using intelligence from Zhao Feiying, Commander Feng confirms a White Lotus Sect stronghold at Ling Family Village. The Imperial Guard coordinates with the Qingzhou Army: four hundred Guards assault the village while army forces secure its exits 39.

The operation faces hundreds of cultists, the Four Demons of the Northern Region, and White Lotus Envoy Qin Wushang. The Guard ultimately captures the surviving cultists, uncovers a disguised White Lotus true disciple, and expands the investigation into Qingzhou officials colluding with the sect 40 42 43 44.

Notable Members

• Su Fei — Recruited directly as a Squad Leader after passing the Qingzhou assessment; later promoted through General Banner Officer and Hundred Households Officer to Vice Thousand Households Commander of the Southern Commandery Investigation Department 6 15 31 46.
• Feng Changqing — Qingzhou Thousand Households Office commander; directs major investigations and the Ling Family Village raid 21 39.
• Ling — Qingzhou commander who assigns Su Fei the missing-child case and fights Wan Mengchang 7 12.
• Li Chengfeng — Captain who recruits Su Fei, leads the Golden Saber Society raid, and directs the Qingzhou Army arms investigation 6 11 21.
• Lei Chongxiao — Commander at the Imperial City’s Southern Commander’s Office; receives Qingzhou memorials and submits reports concerning Su Fei’s merits 30 46.
• Wang Meng — Initially a Strongman under Su Fei; later breaks through to the True Qi Realm and becomes a Squad Leader 7 21 32.